Sustainability leader appointed Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative

Sustainability leader appointed Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative

Wednesday 30 November 2011 Sustainability leader and Worldconnector Herman Mulder has been appointed Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s Board of Directors. Herman Mulder is a member of the board of the Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Mulder is a former senior executive vice-president at ABN AMRO, and is now an independent board member with a focus on sustainable development issues. Mulder said of the appointment: “I am very honored and excited to be Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative. We are witnessing a turning point for sustainability reporting, as it moves from an experimental pursuit to a mainstream practice. I look forward to leading GRI as it helps make sustainability reporting standard practice worldwide.” Mulder also worked in the field of livelihood development finance in India and Brazil, where he gained insights into the global value chain and the positive effects companies can have on people living in lower income countries. He explained, “I learnt how interconnected the world really is – from the farmers in Brazil to the coffee in your cup. It’s important to know our own value chain and recognize that imbalances can be a major issue.” “One of the lessons of the financial crisis is that we need much better transparency on more risks and opportunities,” added Mulder. “This is a global imperative. Governments, stock exchanges and investors should adopt a report or explain approach to policy, encouraging more organizations to report their performance. Notwithstanding recent significant progress in sustainability reporting using GRI’s Guidelines, many more companies should adopt advanced disclosure practices, addressing risks, opportunities, dependencies and impacts in their entire value chain. Moreover, investors should recognize that such disclosure is essential for them too: ‘use or lose’.” Mulder was appointed Vice-Chairman following the departure of Professor Mervyn King in October 2011, and has been Acting Chairman in the interim period. The Board of Directors resolved to appoint Mulder Chairman during their meeting on Friday 25 November 2011. GRI’s Board of Directors appointed Anita Normark as Vice-Chairman of the Board during the same meeting. Normark was General Secretary of the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) from 2001 to 2009, and before that General Secretary of the Nordic Federation of Building and Woodworkers for 15 years. Working closely with the ILO, the focus of the BWI has been to implement globally recognized labor standards, and to promote sustainable development in the construction and wood and forestry sectors. Normark continues to promote sustainable construction developments as a consultant. On 6 October 2011, Professor Mervyn King was awarded the title of Honorary Chairman of GRI, after almost five years serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Professor King moved on to take up the position of Chairman of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) on 1 October 2011. -Ends- For further information contact: Lucy Goodchild Press & Communications Manager Global Reporting Initiative Tel: +31 (0)20 531 0067 Out of office hours: +31 (0)6 303 99 531 Email: goodchild@globalreporting.org Notes to Editors 1. About the Global Reporting Initiative The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) produces a comprehensive Sustainability Reporting Framework that is widely used around the world, to enable greater organizational transparency. The Framework, including the Reporting Guidelines, sets out the Principles and Indicators organizations can use to report their economic, environmental, and social performance. GRI is committed to continuously improving and increasing the use of the Guidelines, which are freely available to the public. Website: www.globalreporting.org 2. About Herman Mulder Herman Mulder is Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). He is Chairman of Social Equity Fund (SEF) and a board member of Utz Certified/Good Inside and the Dutch National Council for Development Cooperation & Sustainable Development (NCDO). Mulder is Dutch National Contact Point for OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (NCP-NL), a Trustee of Tomorrow’s Company (London), and on the board of Business in Development (BiD), Consensus Building Institute (CBI, Boston) and Social Micro Finance Technical Assistance Foundation (SMF-TA). He is also on the Steering Committee of the Worldconnectors. Mulder is a member of the Advisory Board of TEEB, the EU study task force on ‘The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity’. He is co-initiator of the international ‘Hague Framework for Development Financing’, and of the SEWA/Haryiali/cookstove project. He is also a member of the judging panel of the FT/IFC Sustainable Bank Awards and of the VBDO Supply Chain Award. Mulder is recognized as a leader in development and ‘green’ financing, working on a number of innovative projects, marrying public sector aims with private sector/business interests. He is a frequent speaker and publicist. He is a Knight in the Royal Order of Oranje-Nassau for his work in sustainable development. From 1998-2006 Mulder was Director-General and Head of Group Risk Management of ABN AMRO Bank, the Netherlands. From 1995-1998 he was Head of Global Structured Finance at ABN AMRO. He led ABN AMRO in the period 1998-2006 to become the premier international bank in sustainable development. Initiator of the Equator Principles, Mulder created the ABN AMRO Foundation and was its first chairman. After his retirement Mulder was vice-chairman of the ABN AMRO India Foundation. Mulder has held senior advisory roles for the UN Global Compact, World Business Council on Sustainable Development, Club de Madrid, Taellberg Foundation, OXFAM NOVIB, Earth Charter International, Youth Employment & Sustainability (YES), and Business Steering Committee for UN Finance for Development. Read in detail at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in